Encyclopedia of African History.
Kevin Shillington, ed. Vol. 1. New York & London. Fitzroy Dearborn,
p. 599-601
Two distinctive and contrasting symbols can summarize Ahmed Sékou Touré's (1922-1984) Guinea: independence and the Camp Boiro. Political leader of decolonization, hero of the first colony to achieve independence in French Sub-Saharan Africa, Sékou Touré, like Kwame Nkrumah, was among the most eminent African leaders to oppose imperialism. He was welcomed in Guinea after the military coup in 1966 and was named vice president. But after the enthusiasm of independence and high hopes for the future of the country, things changed, through a combination of internal factors, external pressure, and Sékou Touré's own personality. Sékou Touré became a dictator, eliminating opposition to his power and resorting to the worst methods of oppression, while radicalizing his discourse and practice in terms of both local and foreign policy. Three schematic phases can be distinguished in Touré's regime:
Independence was proclaimed on October
2, 1958, and Guinea was admitted to the
United Nations in December 1958. Guinea's then representative was Diallo
Telli.
After holding various other high official positions, including being the first
secretary general of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU), he would become
a target of Sékou Touré's suspicion, and one of the most famous victims
of the Boiro Camp, the concentration camp located in a Conakry suburb.
A series of plots, real or faked, starting in 1960, was followed by increased repression.
The repression peaked after the November 22, 1970, attempt by Portuguese and exiled
Guinean forces both to liberate Portuguese
soldiers (Guinea was a strong supporter
of the liberation movement of Guinea Bissao and Cape Verde [PAIGC]) and overthrow
Sékou Touré. Many people were arrested, including several ministers
and ambassadors, high military officers, and Monsignor
Tchidimbo, the archbishop
of Conakry. Following an [extrajudicial] trial
by the National Popular Assembly in January 1971, four
people were publicly hanged under the Tombo bridge, in Conakry.
Altogether 10,000 to 30,000 people were victims of the regime.
After the massive “no” vote in the 1958
referendum, France left with
all its technicians and equipment and withdrew its aid, trying to block Guinea's
international contacts. Responding to the rigid French attitude, Guinea established
its own money in 1960, the Guinean franc and later the Sily (the elephant), symbol
of the party and its leader. Neither currencies were convertible, which gave the
state an efficient means to control the economy. Diplomatic relationships with
France were finally terminated in 1965. They were reestablished only ten years
later, on July 14, 1975. Guinea turned to the Eastern bloc, to the Soviet Union
and to China, for diplomatic and economic support (trade agreements were signed
as early as 1958-1959). But, by 1961, some distance had been taken from the Soviet
Union, accused of perverting the student movement and the teachers union. As a
general rule, Guinea always tried not to depend too heavily on one partner, as
demonstrated by its economic policy.
Guinea had rich assets: various ecological regions, sufficient water supply, mineral
resources, and skilled labor (?). During colonization, this potential had not been
fully utilized, but new projects were underway in the 1950s such as the exploitation
of bauxite and iron and the building of a dam on the Konkouré river (finally
inaugurated in 1999 ??). In 1958 Guinea was the third colony in French West Africa
in terms of economic value. These assets attracted foreign investment: French (despite
the political problems), American, and Soviet. Investment was mainly aimed at the
exploitation of bauxite: at Fria (the French Company Péchiney combined with
North American capital), Boké (American-controlled international consortium),
Kindia-Friguiabgé (a joint venture between the Guinean State and the Soviet
Union), and from 1952 to 1974 at Kassa. Because of its nationalistic orientation,
Guinea was partially able to impose its own terms and negotiate more favorable
contracts (???). The example of the transformation of bauxite in Guinea itself
illustrates this policy, but the aluminum factory in Fria, an intermediate stage
in the processing of aluminum, shows the limits of negotiation with intemational
trusts. Despite the agreement, Guinea failed to have an aluminum factory built
to take advantage of the surplus value created by this industrial stage. The production
at Fria went rapidly from 185,000 tons in 1960 to 460,000 two years later and 700,000
in the 1980s. A 145-kilometer long railway was built from Fria to Conakry while
the harbor of Kamsar was the outlet for Boké mines whose exports started
in 1973. Guinea was the second largest world bauxite producer, and this product
was responsible for over 90 per cent of its hard currency earnings. Diamonds were
another important resource, whose small-scale exploitation was strictly controlled
and even forbidden in 1975-1980, in order to prevent smuggling toward Freetown.
Resorting to Marxist phraseology, Sékou
Touré applied a policy of
nationalization and centralization. The 1962 congress of the PDG proclaimed the
adoption of the non-capitalist mode of development. The regime aimed at creating
a unified Guinean nation, without class or ethnic divisions. The nationalization
of industries [they never affected the mining interests], which started in 1959,
was broadened with the passage of a new fundamental law in 1964 which repressed
corruption and private enterprise. Guinea was basically an agricultural country
(although most of its monetary resources came from mining), and there, too, a similar
policy was applied: collective farming was organized and received much public financial
help. (The final stage was the FAPA, or “fermes agro-pastorales d'Arrondissement”,
in 1978.) Students spent one year at the end of their curriculum, working in the
countryside and “educating” the masses. In addition, foreign trade
was nationalized and private trade forbidden for some time.
The state also controlled all political and intellectual activity. Some parties
spontaneously rallied to the PDG, but most of them were forbidden, resulting in
the establishment of the one-party state. As a result, the whole country was organized
under the leadership of the PDG. In 1967 Guinea was divided into 7 “Commissariats
généraux de la Révolution,” 33 administrative regions,
350 districts, and at the village or neighborhood level 2,500 “Pouvoirs révolutionnaires
locaux” (PRL). The organization of the party (in which membership was compulsory
at the age of seven and required the payment of dues, a substitute for direct taxation)
reproduced the same scheme. Attending party meetings was also an obligation. The
party aimed at controlling all activities; it organized the population, mainly
the workers (CNTG: Confédération nationale des travailleurs de Guinée),
the youth (JRDA: Jeunesse de la Révolution démocratique africaine),
and women (URFG: Union révolutionnaire des femmes de Guinée). The
state also controlled public opinion through the school system and censorship of
the media.
Mottos espousing revolution, anti-imperialism, and egalitarianism were particularly
attractive in a country characterized by discrimination, be it by age, gender,
or socioeconomic status (slaves, castes). Campaigns were organized against so-called
mystical practices. Feudalism, in Marxist terms, was attacked: the old chief system,
used by colonization, was abolished in 1957, and captivity, which still existed
in indirect ways, was repressed in an attempt to change attitudes. This was mainly
aimed at the Fula aristocraty and led to multifold repression. But despite
his Marxist discourse, Sékou Touré was able to gain the support of Muslim
leaders and to attract Arab capital. A Friday mosque was built in the suburbs of
Conakry.
In the mid-1970s, Guinea gradually opened up again and balanced its relations between
the Western and the Eastern blocs. Trade and agriculture were progressively liberalized,
and reconciliation was proclaimed with several European and African countries.
As a result, the borders reopened and negotiations started with the European Economic
Community (Guinea signed the Lomé Agreement) and international organizations
(IMF). Sékou Touré assumed again the figure of a Pan-Africanist and
non-aligned leader after he personally attended the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) summit in Monrovia in 1978 (where Guinea reconciled with Senegal and Côte
d'Ivoire). Previously, in 1968, he had encouraged the founding of the Organization
of the States Bordering the Senegal River (Organisation des Etats riverains du
Sénégal) whose treaty had been signed in Guinea; but it broke up
in 1971 because of conflicts between Guinea and its neighbors following the 1970
Portuguese aggression. Similarly he favored the foundation of other regional organizations
(Gambia River, Mano, River, Niger). He also served as mediator for various conflicts
(Chad, Western Sahara). This role was supposed to attain its apogée with
the organization of the twentieth OAU summit in Conakry in 1984. Sékou
Touré's
death interrupted the preparations.
Sékou Touré's regime, which lasted almost unchallenged from 1958
to his natural death on March 26,
1984, had profound consequences for Guinea. It accelerated a migration process
started under colonization. This resulted in the exodus of about 25 per cent of
the total population, and the death or flight of most intellectuals. At the same
time the radicalization of the ideology created economic problems in a country
whose resources were promising. After some hesitation and competition between Prime
Minister Lansana
Béavogui and Ismael Touré,
Sékou Touré's half-brother, the army took over on April 3, 1984,
under the leadership of Colonels Lansana
Conté and Diarra
Traoré who
formed the CMRN (Comité militaire de redressement national). The second
republic was proclaimed, and the PDG and its institutions were abolished.
Further Reading
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